Baltimore County Animal Services fail to reach out for family's microchipped dog

Shayla was micro-chipped, yet the Baltimore County Animal Services never notified the dog's owner.

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Authorities tell pet owners to make sure they get their dogs and cats micro-chipped in case they get lost, but there seems to have been a breakdown in Baltimore County, Md. helping at least one lost "chipped" dog this week reported wbaltv.com.

Last week, Helen Turner's rescue dog named Shayla escaped from the family's backyard home in Owings Mills. Everyone looked for Shayla, but she was nowhere to be found. Turner called Baltimore County Animal Services Division; no one ever returned her calls.

Turner turned to social media and posted Shayla's photo on Facebook. The following day someone posted a photo from the Manor Road Baltimore Shelter asking if it was the same dog?

Turner rushed to the shelter with the photo and asked the person working at the desk. The employee denied having seen Shayla. Deciding to take a look at the dogs anyway, it was only a few moments before Turner's son and Shayla recognized each other.

As to why Shayla wasn't scanned and why Turner never received a return call despite her numerous inquiries the following explanation was offered by Health Department Director Dr. Gregory Branch:

"Our practice is for all dogs to be scanned in the field and again during the veterinary exam. Unfortunately, sometimes the chip is missed, even with multiple scans, due to location, type of chip or the behavior of the animal.

In addition to the micro-chip, Shayla also had a spay tattoo from a local veterinary hospital.

Fortunately for Turner who had the perseverance to follow-up on Shayla and leave no "paw unturned," their family has been reunited, but Turner wanted to make sure she issued a warning to every dog owner in the terrible chance that you lose your dog:

"Be persistent and don't give up. Take any avenue. You can't just wait because apparently having a chip doesn't help. I don't want to know what would have happened. We adopted her a year ago, and she's our family pet."

Welcome home Shayla.

Shayla was lucky her owner never gave up; a note to terminate the dog's life was listed on her chart to happen within the next four days.

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